Several of your favorite artists will be attending Wednesday night’s CMT Music Awards, including Video of the Year nominees Luke Bryan (“Play It Again”), Dierks Bentley (“Drunk on a Plane”), Darius Rucker (“Homegrown Honey”), Sam Hunt (“Leave the Night On”), Lady Antebellum (“Bartender”).
Luke, Eric Church, Keith Urban, Lady Antebellum, Darius and Sam, as well as Carrie Under, Jason Aldean, Florida Georgia Line, Jake Owen, Reba and Zac Brown Band, are scheduled to perform.
Darius will sing to several thousand folks during an outdoor performance down the street from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, while Keith will perform his brand new single, “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16” during the show. The members of Lady A are pairing up with DJ-producer Zedd with an EDM-inspired country performance.
Dierks’ alter-ego Captain Holden Mike Johnson performed “Drunk on a Plane” during last year’s CMT Music Awards and apparently made out like a bandit. “Last I’d heard, he’d been demoted, and he’s flying a little Cessna smiling somewhere where there’s no FAA regulations after his CMT performance debut,” says Dierks. “He’s a strong man with a strong look, and I don’t know…He took my wife home from the CMT Awards, so he’s got some moves.”
Darius says he’s just happy to be nominated this year. ““It’s really just one of those things where I’m really happy to be nominated, because I didn’t expect that all,” says Darius. “What I always look forward to is the performances, because you never get to see anybody because we’re always on the road and you only see the guys you play with.”
Sam Hunt has two nominations – Video of the Year and Breakthrough Video of the Year — for his first official music video, “Leave the Night On.” He made a couple of videos prior to getting signed to MCA Nashville, and said he learned a lot. “I learned from making a few of these low-budget videos early on that the best way to go about doing it is just try to keep it honest and real and all of the people in the ‘Leave the Night On’ video was friends of ours,” says Sam. “We didn’t really want to hire actors and actresses to come in. It’s just hard to stage a good time. You kinda have to just let it naturally happen. So, that was a good thing about that video is that it turned into a just a fun day hanging out with all of our buddies, and we had a really good time making the video.”
The Walking Dead‘s Norman Reedus will be on hand to dole out trophies, as will Little Big Town, Dancing With the Stars champ Rumer Willis, action icon Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nikki Reed, Aloe Blacc, Billy Ray Cyrus, Brett Eldredge, Cassadee Pope, Cole Swindell, David Spade, Hunter Hayes, Jana Kramer, Jenna Dewan-Tatum, Houston Texans JJ Watt, Kellie Pickler, American Idol’s Nick Fradiani, Noah Galloway, Ron White, Sara Evans, Thomas Rhett and Tom Arnold will also present.
The six finalists for video of the year will be announced at the beginning of the live show, and fans can then vote at CMT.com throughout the live telecast (ET/CT only) to determine the night’s big winner.
The 2015 CMT Music Awards will broadcast live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, Wednesday (June 10th) at 8pm ET.
Video of the Year
Carrie Underwood, “Something in the Water”
Darius Rucker, “Homegrown Honey”
Dierks Bentley, “Drunk on a Plane”
Florida Georgia Line, “Dirt”
Jason Aldean, “Burnin’ It Down”
Kenny Chesney, “American Kids”
Lady Antebellum, “Bartender”
Lee Brice, “I Don’t Dance”
Luke Bryan, “Play It Again”
Maddie & Tae, “Girl in a Country Song”
Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood, “Somethin’ Bad”
Sam Hunt, “Leave the Night On”
Male Video of the Year
Dierks Bentley, “Drunk on a Plane”
Eric Church, “Talladega”
Jason Aldean, “Burnin’ It Down”
Keith Urban, “Somewhere in My Car”
Kenny Chesney, “American Kids”
Luke Bryan, “Play It Again”
Female Video of the Year
Carrie Underwood, “Little Toy Guns”
Carrie Underwood, “Something in the Water”
Lee Ann Womack, “The Way I’m Livin'”
Miranda Lambert, “Little Red Wagon”
RaeLynn, “God Made Girls”
Reba, “Going Out Like That”
Group Video of the Year
A Thousand Horses, “Smoke”
Eli Young Band, “Dust”
Lady Antebellum, “Bartender”
Little Big Town, “Day Drinking”
The Band Perry, “Chainsaw”
Zac Brown Band, “All Alright”
Breakthrough Video of the Year
Chase Rice, “Gonna Wanna Tonight”
Frankie Ballard, “Sunshine & Whiskey”
Kelsea Ballerini, “Love Me Like You Mean It”
Maddie & Tae, “Girl in a Country Song”
RaeLynn, “God Made Girls”
Sam Hunt, “Leave the Night On”
Duo Video of the Year:
Big & Rich “Look at You”
Brothers Osborne “Rum”
Florida Georgia Line “Dirt”
Florida Georgia Line “Sun Daze”
Maddie & Tae “Girl in a Country Song”
Swon Brothers “Later On”
Collaborative Video Of The Year
Blake Shelton feat. Ashley Monroe, Lonely Tonight
Brantley Gilbert feat. Justin Moore and Thomas Rhett, Small Town Throwdown
Jennifer Nettles feat. Brandy Clark, His Hands
Kenny Chesney with Grace Potter, Wild Child
Miranda Lambert with Carrie Underwood, Somethin’ Bad
Tim McGraw feat. Faith Hill, Meanwhile Back at Mamas
CMT Performance Of The Year
Brett Eldredge, Beat of the Music from CMT’s Ultimate Kickoff Party
John Legend and Lee Ann Womack, You & I (Nobody In The World) from CMT Crossroads
Katy Perry and Kacey Musgraves, Roar from Crossroads
Keith Urban, It’s a Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World from 2014 CMT Artists of the Year
Kenny Chesney, American Kids from Instant Jam
Lady Antebellum and Aloe Blacc, Wake Me Up from CMT’s Ultimate Kickoff Party
Lady Antebellum and Chris Stapleton, Drink a Beer from 2014 CMT Artists of the Year
Dierks Bentley (CMT—Drunk captain) OC: …some moves, yeah. :26
“Captain Holden Mike Johnson – I don’t know where he is right now. Last I’d heard, he’d been demoted, and he’s flying a little Cessna smiling somewhere where there’s no FAA regulations after his CMT performance debut. I don’t know. I think he’ll still come around every now and then. He’s a strong man with a strong look, and I don’t know. Management’s not too excited about him, but we’ll see. [laughs] He took my wife home from the CMT Awards, so he’s got some moves, yeah.”
Darius Rucker (CMT performances) OC: …play with. :11
“It’s really just one of those things where I’m really happy to be nominated, because I didn’t expect that all. I’m looking forward to, what I always look forward to is the performances, because you never get to see anybody because we’re always on the road and you only see the guys you play with.”
Sam Hunt (Leave the Night On video) OC: …making the video. :38
“‘Leave the Night On’ was my first official music video, although I have a bit of a passion for the video world because my manager, Brad, comes from the videographer world. That’s how our relationship started was shooting this little video for another song about six months before that. But I learned from making a few of these low-budget videos early on that the best way to go about doing it is just try to keep it honest and real and all of the people in the ‘Leave the Night On’ video was friends of ours. We didn’t really want to hire actors and actresses to come in. It’s just hard to stage a good time. You kinda have to just let it naturally happen. So, that was a good thing about that video is that it turned into a just a fun day hanging out with all of our buddies, and we had a really good time making the video.”
Lady A (Bartender video) OC: …was perfect. :34
“I think there’s no surprise why ‘Bartender’ is in video of the year — Kate Upton. You’ve got all these guys sitting there voting, and the first thing that pops in their mind is Kate Upton. And so, that was all part of the plan, so our evil plan worked. But, that was definitely one of the most fun videos to shoot, having Kate Upton and Tony Hale. He was hilarious. I mean, he took the video to a whole ‘nother level. So, we’re just really proud of that video. Shane Drake did a great job, and just kind of really actually took this basic concept and really brought it to life. I thought it was perfect.”